The Egyptian Lover, Soul Clap - Hai Karate + Remixes

The Egyptian Lover, aka Greg Broussard, is the legendary producer, rapper and DJ who established the west coast hip hop sound way before G-Funk arrived. He’s known for blasting electro-funk sounds including his hit “Egypt Egypt” and legendary parties including selling out the LA Sports Arena in 1984 with the Uncle Jamm’s Army crew. His influence on modern dance music is heart felt by Soul Clap who covered his deep cut “The Alezby Inn” featuring The Genevan Heathen on vocals for their 2013 debut EFUNK: The Album. That cover was remixed by The Egyptian Lover himself which led to a long term relationship between him and Soul Clap. He appeared in Soul Clap’s “In Da Kar” music video.

In 2019, Soul Clap entered the studio of Lee Curtiss with The Egyptian Lover to create “Hai Karate”, an electro rap anthem that’s an ode to keeping your personal swagger up, much like the 1970s cologne of the same name tried to inspire. “I believe in you, that’s the name of this song” The Egyptian Lover exclaims, as his signature TR808 pulses and oozes 1980s electro through Soul Clap’s electronic synthesizer symphony.

For remixes of “Hai Karate”, Soul Clap conscripted their label mates, 2fox, Zeynep Erbay and FSQ, along with D.C. cutting edge crew Black Rave Culture. 2fox brings moves “Hai Karate” into UK garage territory with a tribal 2-step shuffle beat, melodic 808 kick drums, and a dark, suspenseful build up. Zeynep turns up the tempos for The Egyptian Lover’s motivational sermon. Her remix is both acid washed and wickedly tribal, while it maintains many of the amazing TR808 elements from the original. FSQ teamed up with Bay area producer Spooki who they met at an Empire writing camp last year, to deliver a horn driven Nu-disco rework of “Hai Karate” powered by FSQ’s One Era syncopated live drums. Black Rave Culture shows off their hype production style on their remix, moving the track into the zone of Baltimore / Jersey club music with a futuristic and global twist; it blazes at almost 140bpm with every type of drum sound imaginable across its 3 minute span.